DURHAM — NC State played arguably its best half of the season, and then it became a battle throughout.
Duke freshman power forward Cooper Flagg scored 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils made just enough plays down the stretch to pull out a 74-64 win over NC State on Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium .
Duke looked mortal despite its gaudy 18-2 overall record and 10-0 mark in the ACC. However, Flagg proved a difficult matchup, especially if he wasn’t being guarded by NCSU senior forward Dontrez Styles. NC State also missed Styles' offense, as he had 18 points and went 4 of 6 on three-pointers.
Once Styles got into foul trouble, Flagg took over, whether making a few three-pointers, or just driving to the rim and creating mismatches.
"We typically switch one-through-four, but it's hard to switch against him," NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. "Then we went big and Ben [Middlebrooks] fouled him one time when he made the three-point shot."
NC State’s losing streak reached five straight games, and seven of the last eight in falling to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the ACC. NCSU hosts Clemson at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the CW Network.
"What we talked about is we've been on the unfortunate side of a lot of, you know, wins and losses this year," Keatts said. "What I told them is, 'Hey, if you can stay consistent and play the way we played tonight,' and Duke is good. Arguably the No. 1 team in the country."
Flagg is projected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft this June, and he played like it in the second half. When Styles exited with three fouls with 17:44 left in the game, the Wolfpack tried a variety of defenders against him, but he was either too long and athletic, or too skilled from the perimeter.
"Cooper is as good as advertised and I think he's the difference in the game," Keatts said "If I had Cooper Flagg, I might win it too."
NC State felt hopeful of pulling off the upset, and were down just 63-62 after senior guard Marcus Hill’s three-point play with 4:40 left. However, what has been the trend in recent losses, the Wolfpack were outscored 11-2 from that point on.
NC State came out hot from three-point land to take a 37-33 lead at halftime. The Wolfpack went 7 of 12, easily surpassing the shooting efforts of the last two games against SMU and California — NCSU went 5 of 34 in those two losses.
The hot shooting from Styles, and also senior guard Jayden Taylor helped build a 35-22 lead with 4:14 left in the first half.
"Their strength has been attacking the basket and playing in the paint and mid-range and pull-ups and all that," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. "Tonight they're banging in threes. So I thought then we got too spread. So then they started driving us again."
The NC State defense was also as good as it has been of late, with Styles battling Flagg as much as possible. Flagg went 2 of 7 from the field for just five points. The Blue Devils got three three-pointers from fellow freshman Kon Knueppel, but the rest of the team went 0 of 8 from beyond the arc. Knueppel finished with 19 points and went 3 of 10 on three-pointers.
"I thought we had great player and ball movement," Keatts said. "I thought we really shared the basketball. We were able to get out and transition."
The good will built up from the first half, got zapped with Duke going on a 12-0 run to start the second half to build a 45-37 lead with 14:25 left in the game. Adding in the end of the first half, and it was a 19-0 run for the Blue Devils.
NC State freshman guard Treymane Parker became the unlikely spark and scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half for a new career high. Parker played just three scoreless minutes against SMU on Saturday, and hasn’t been a factor since November.
"I'm getting really excited about our young guys," Keatts said. "We don't have Mike James, and we needed another guard to step up."
Parker entered the game shooting 6 of 19 for 14 points in games Dec. 4-Jan. 25, and shattered those numbers in one night, going 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 4 on three-points in 19 minutes played.
"He didn't change it a little bit, he changed it a lot," Scheyer said. "I mean, he is holy smokes, man. Like, he was quick. The way he was shooting it, it's a little bit different."
NC State stunned Duke in Washington, D.C. in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals 74-69 last year. The Wolfpack then had a rematch in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. NC State controlled the action and center D.J. Burns had 29 points in a 76-64 win March 31 in Dallas. NCSU reached the Final Four for the first time since 1983.
Winning three in a row against Duke hadn’t happened since 1987-88. Winning at Duke has also been a dry spell.
The last time NC State won at Duke was 84-82 on Jan. 23, 2017, in what is simply known as the “Dennis Smith game.” Smith had 32 points and Abdul-Malik Abu added 19 and the Wolfpack topped future NBA players Jayson Tatum, Luke Kennard, Harry Giles and Grayson Allen.
Keatts said he just doesn't have a guy down the stretch like Duke does.
"We didn't want the game to get away from us and we relied on our defense," Keatts said. "Our thought our defense was really good tonight [Duke shot 39.0 percent]."
Follow on Twitter:
@NCStateRivals or @JaceyZembal
Subscribe for free on YouTube:
For Jacey Zembal or The Wolfpack Central
Like on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/TheWolfpackCentral
Follow on Instagram/Threads/Blue Sky:
www.instagram.com/thewolfpackcentral
ATTENTION SUBSCRIBERS: Our NETWORK-WIDE, all-access pass allows you to read every premium message board in the Rivals.com network as part of a bundled add-on to your subscription!
Subscribers can add the All-Access Pass or a 3-Site Bundle in your account profile, under the Subscriptions tab: HERE
